What's Up Wednesday

It's time for What's Up Wednesday, a weekly meme run by Erin L Funk and Jaime Morrow. Here's what I've been up to this past week!

What I'm reading

I started the Bartimeus trilogy, which I've heard good things about! The Amulet of Sarmakand is a great upper-MG read. I'm also rereading Harry Potter, because... just because. :D

What I'm writing

I finished the first draft of Shiny Book 3 at 77K words! Which means I've hit the halfway point of the series!

I also wrapped up the first (well, second, really) self-edit on Book 2, which is now 81K words.

My writing goal this week: Re-outline Books 4-6 and write Book 4. I've started it already, despite my attempts to take a break between drafts. I failed. :P

(I am a slave to this series. Send help. o.O)

What works for me

What works for me when writing a series is accepting my own organised-chaos approach. Scrivener is a lifesaver, because at any point when drafting, I'll think of other random details, and they can be about literally anything - background info, plot details for any of the six books, short stories and spinoffs, characters, monsters... et cetera. It'd be virtually impossible to keep all that in one notebook, because I'd never be able to find what I needed at the right time!

So: Scrivener! I have a "characters" folder; a "settings" folder; all the other book outlines and blurbs;  a folder for each alternative universe (did I mention this series is crazy-complicated?!); a master post (I've heard the term "series bible") with the general rules for magic and other... stuff; a general timeline for the series; a list of other miscellaneous ideas; and a List of Awesome (I made this for motivation during the first draft of the first book!). So... that's a lot of folders. And unfortunately, it wouldn't make any sense to anyone other than me, because even I don't understand the chaos of my own brain sometimes. :P

What else I've been up to

I finally watched Mockingjay Part 1! And the Hanging Tree song is still stuck in my head. I think it could have worked as one film, but it was a great adaptation, like the other two HG films.

Other than that, I've been up to my neck in freelance work, blog tour stuff, emails, and some exciting Shiny Things. My subscribers will be the first to find out my news in this week's newsletter (except my CP's and beta readers, who already know ;)) and the Official Announcement of Awesome will be up on the blog soon...

*bounces around manically*